1 I am Isaiah, the son of Amoz.
And this is the message that I was given about Judah and Jerusalem when Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah were the kings of Judah:
A Guilty Nation
2 The Lord has said,
“Listen, heaven and earth!
The children I raised
have turned against me.
3 Oxen and donkeys know
who owns and feeds them,
but my people won't ever learn.”
4 Israel, you are a sinful nation
loaded down with guilt.
You are wicked and corrupt
and have turned from the Lord,
the holy God of Israel.
5 Why be punished more?
Why not give up your sin?
Your head is badly bruised,
and you are weak all over.
6 From your head to your toes
there isn't a healthy spot.
Bruises, cuts, and open sores
go without care
or oil to ease the pain.
A Country in Ruins
7 Your country lies in ruins;
your towns are in ashes.
Foreigners and strangers
take and destroy your land
while you watch.
8 Enemies surround Jerusalem,
alone like a hut
in a vineyard
or in a cucumber field.
9 Zion would have disappeared
like Sodom and Gomorrah,
if the Lord All-Powerful
had not let a few
of its people survive.
Justice, Not Sacrifices
10 You are no better
than the leaders and people
of Sodom and Gomorrah!
So listen to the Lord God:
11 “Your sacrifices
mean nothing to me.
I am sick of your offerings
of rams and choice cattle;
I don't like the blood
of bulls or lambs or goats.
12 “Who asked you to bring all this
when you come to worship me?
Stay out of my temple!
13 Your sacrifices are worthless,
and your incense disgusting.
I can't stand the evil you do
on your New Moon Festivals
or on your Sabbaths
and other times of worship.
14 I hate your New Moon Festivals
and all others as well.
They are a heavy burden
I am tired of carrying.
15 “No matter how much you pray,
I won't listen.
You are too violent.
16 Wash yourselves clean!
I hate your filthy deeds.
Stop doing wrong
17 and learn to live right.
See that justice is done.
Defend widows and orphans
and help the oppressed.”
An Invitation from the Lord
18 I, the Lord, invite you
to come and talk it over.
Your sins are scarlet red,
but they will be whiter
than snow or wool.
19 If you willingly obey me,
the best crops in the land
will be yours.
20 But if you turn against me,
your enemies will kill you.
I, the Lord, have spoken.
The Lord Condemns Jerusalem
21 Jerusalem, you are like
an unfaithful wife.
Once your judges were honest
and your people lived right;
now you are a city
full of murderers.
22 Your silver is fake,
and your wine
is watered down.
23 Your leaders have rejected me
to become friends of crooks;
your rulers are looking
for gifts and bribes.
Widows and orphans
never get a fair trial.
24 I am the Lord All-Powerful,
the mighty ruler of Israel,
and I make you a promise:
You are now my enemy,
and I will show my anger
by taking revenge on you.
25 I will punish you terribly
and burn away everything
that makes you unfit
to worship me.
26 Jerusalem, I will choose
judges and advisors
like those you had before.
Your new name will be
“Justice and Faithfulness.”
The Lord Will Save Jerusalem
27 Jerusalem, you will be saved
by showing justice;
Zion's people who turn to me
will be saved
by doing right.
28 But those rebellious sinners
who turn against me, the Lord,
will all disappear.
29 You will be made ashamed
of those groves of trees
where you worshiped idols.
30 You will be like a grove of trees
dying in a drought.
31 Your strongest leaders
will be like dry wood
set on fire by their idols.
No one will be able to help,
as they all go up in flames.
1 A vision of Isaiah, the sonne of Amoz, which he sawe concerning Iudah and Ierusalem: in the dayes of Vzziah, Iotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah Kings of Iudah. 2 Heare, O heauens, and hearken, O earth: for the Lord hath sayde, I haue nourished and brought vp children, but they haue rebelled against me. 3 The oxe knoweth his owner, and the asse his masters crib: but Israel hath not knowen: my people hath not vnderstand. 4 Ah, sinfull nation, a people laden with iniquitie: a seede of the wicked, corrupt children: they haue forsaken the Lord: they haue prouoked the holy one of Israel to anger: they are gone backewarde. 5 Wherefore shoulde ye be smitten any more? for ye fall away more and more: the whole head is sicke, and the whole heart is heauie. 6 From the sole of the foote vnto the head, there is nothing whole therein, but wounds, and swelling, and sores full of corruption: they haue not bene wrapped, nor bound vp, nor mollified with oyle. 7 Your land is waste: your cities are burnt with fire: strangers deuoure your lande in your presence, and it is desolate like the ouerthrowe of strangers. 8 And the daughter of Zion shall remaine like a cotage in a vineyarde, like a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, and like a besieged citie. 9 Except the Lord of hostes had reserued vnto vs, euen a small remnant: we should haue bene as Sodom, and should haue bene like vnto Gomorah. 10 Heare the worde of the Lord, O princes of Sodom: hearken vnto the Law of our God, O people of Gomorah. 11 What haue I to doe with the multitude of your sacrifices, sayth the Lord? I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and of the fat of fed beasts: and I desire not the blood of bullocks, nor of lambs, nor of goates. 12 When ye come to appeare before me, who required this of your hands to tread in my courts? 13 Bring no more oblations, in vaine: incense is an abomination vnto me: I can not suffer your newe moones, nor Sabbaths, nor solemne dayes (it is iniquitie) nor solemne assemblies. 14 My soule hateth your newe moones and your appointed feastes: they are a burden vnto me: I am weary to beare them. 15 And when you shall stretch out your hands, I wil hide mine eyes from you: and though ye make many prayers, I wil not heare: for your hands are full of blood. 16 Wash you, make you cleane: take away the euill of your workes from before mine eyes: cease to doe euill. 17 Learne to doe well: seeke iudgement, relieue the oppressed: iudge the fatherlesse and defend the widowe. 18 Come nowe, and let vs reason together, sayth the Lord: though your sinnes were as crimsin, they shalbe made white as snowe: though they were red like skarlet, they shalbe as wooll. 19 If ye consent and obey, ye shall eate the good things of the land. 20 But if ye refuse and be rebellious, ye shalbe deuoured with the sword: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. 21 Howe is the faithfull citie become an harlot? it was full of iudgement, and iustice lodged therein, but now they are murtherers. 22 Thy siluer is become drosse: thy wine is mixt with water. 23 Thy Princes are rebellious and companions of theeues: euery one loueth giftes, and followeth after rewards: they iudge not the fatherlesse, neither doeth the widowes cause come before them. 24 Therefore sayth the Lord God of hostes, the mightie one of Israel, Ah, I will ease me of mine aduersaries, and auenge me of mine enemies. 25 Then I will turne mine hand vpon thee, and burne out thy drosse, till it be pure, and take away all thy tinne. 26 And I will restore thy iudges as at the first, and thy counsellers as at the beginning: afterward shalt thou be called a citie of righteousnes, and a faithfull citie. 27 Zion shall be redeemed in iudgement, and they that returne in her, in iustice. 28 And the destruction of the transgressers and of the sinners shalbe together: and they that forsake the Lord, shalbe consumed. 29 For they shalbe confounded for the okes, which ye haue desired, and ye shall be ashamed of the gardens, that ye haue chosen. 30 For ye shalbe as an oke, whose leafe fadeth: and as a garden that hath no water. 31 And the strong shall be as towe, and the maker thereof, as a sparke: and they shall both burne together, and none shall quench them.